Two 49ers suffered some critical injuries in the 23-17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Conference championship game. Mike Iupati tore his ankle in a goal line collision after Anthony Dixon scored a touchdown in the first half.

Bowman's leg suffered a brutal fall after initially stripping the ball from Jermaine Kearse on the one-yard line. He held onto the ball, but the referees ruled the loose ball being recovered by Seattle.

Reports indicate that Jim Harbaugh and the 49ers staff fear that Bowman has torn both his ACL and MCL ligaments, according to Pro Football Talk. If both ligaments are indeed torn, the surgery would become uncertain. Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski tore both ligaments in 2012 and had to wait a month for his MCL to heal in order to have surgery.

Once the surgery on the torn ligaments are completed, it will take another few months to rehab the leg. Bowman would presumably start the 2014 season on the PUP list. He could be playing as early as Week 7 as he must spend the first six weeks on the PUP while rehabbing and his knee.

Assuming that Bowman will be out, Michael Wilhoite will get most of the reps at ILB alongside Patrick Willis. He has experience as a starter when he filled in for Willis in Weeks 4 and 5.